Fabric folding unit



Dec. 30, 1969 R. A. FLORCZAK 3,486,470

v FABRIC FOLDING UNIT Flled Oct 4, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. Richard A. F lorczak WITNESS Mflmy.

. y v f l 1 g I A I I TTORNE Y Dec. 30, 1969 R.-A. FLORCZAK- FABRIC FOLDING UNIT- 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 4, 1968 TORNE Y United States Patent O 3,486,470 FABRIC FOLDING UNIT Richard A. Florczak, Belleville, N.J., assignor to The Singer Company, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Oct. 4, 1968, Ser. No. 765,202 Int. Cl. Db 35/02 US. Cl. 112-147 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The prior art discloses folders, usually in the form of an attachment, having no moving parts through which the cloth worpiece is forced, the contour of the folders being such as to produce a hem by twice folding a margin of the workpiece inwardly beneath the workpiece. Further, the United States Patent No. 2,776,636, issued to Samuel Seserman on Jan. 8, 1957, discloses a roller rotatably mounted above a work support plate with its axis vertical to the support plate, which roller is utilized to fold a margin of flexible sheet material. Theattachment folders, however, require manual guidance of the cloth workpiece as it is moved into and through the folders and the mechanism disclosed in the United States Patent No. 2,776,636 is not suitable for twice folding a margin of the workpiece inwardly beneath the workpiece.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to work folding apparatus for sewing machines and includes a substantially horizontal support member and a plurality of rollers which move fabric workpieces along the support member to the sewing machine. A flange secured to each of at least two of said rollers depends below the surface of the support member and cooperates with associated work guides to twice fold a margin of the fabric workpieces inwardly beneath the workpiece thereby to produce a hem that conceals the row edges of the fabric workpieces.

The use of the apparatus of the present invention requires only that an operator bring the leading edge of the fabric workpiece into engagement with the first roller thereafter the apparatus operates automatically to fold the margin as described herein. i

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved fabric folding arrangement capable of handling heavy work fabric without operator manipulation.

It is another object of this invention to provide improved fabric folding mechanism for producing a hem that conceals the raw edge of the fabric workpiece.

It is still another object of this invention to provide fabric folding mechanism utilizing cooperating rollers and guides for twice folding a margin of the fabric workpiece inwardly beneath the workpiece thereby to conceal the raw edge of the workpiece.

Having in mind the above andother objects that will be evident from an understanding of this disclosure, the invention comprises the devices, combinations and arrangements of parts as illustrated in the presently pre- "ice ferred embodiment of the invention which is hereinafter set forth in such detail as to enable those skilled in the art readily to understand the function, operation, construction and advantages of it when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the folding unit of the present invention and a portion of a sewing machine associated therewith.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the folding unit shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an elevational end view of a portion of the folding unit of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a section taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a section taken along 55 of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference to the drawings there is illustrated a fabric folding arrangement 10 utilized with a conventional sewing machine 12, only a portion of which is illustrated in the drawings. The sewing machine 12 includes a bed is shown.

The fabric folding arrangement 10 includes a horizontally mounted elongated fabric support plate 24 having an upper work receiving surface 26. The leading end of the plate 24 is brought up flush against the bed 14 in operative alignment with the stitch forming instrumentalities. The upper surface 26 of the plate 24 is vertically aligned with the work receiving surface of the sewing machine bed 14. Although the drawings do not depict a fabric guide positioned on the sewing machine bed 14 between the leading end of the plate 24 and the stitch forming instrumentalities it should be understood that such a guide may very well be necessary properly to present the work fabric folded by the arrangement 10 to the stitch forming instrumentalities.

As can be seen more clearly in FIG. 1 four spaced notches are formed along one edge of the plate 24, the notches including two folding roller notches 28 and 30 and two pressing roller notches 32 and 34. Mounted above the plate 24 are two folding rollers 36 and 38 extending partlyover the notches 28 and 30, respectively. Two pairs of cooperating pressing rollers 40 and 42 are positioned in the area of the notches 32 and 34, respectively. Each pair of the pressing rollers 40 and 42 are positioned so that one roller in each pair extends parallel with and directly above the other roller with a very small space between them, the space being roughly at the level of the plate 24. The folding rollers 36 and 38 include a cylindrical section 44 and a disc-shaped flange 46 having an inner surface 48 the flange being formed at one end of the cylindrical section and concentric therewith. The cylindrical wall of each of the sections 44 is spaced slightly above the surface 26 of the plate 24 while the lower sections of the flanges 46 depend through the notches 28 and 30 and extend perpendicular to the horizontal fabric support plate 24. The pressing rollers 40 are cylindrically shaped, the wall of the cylinder for each roller having formed thereon a plurality of points 50 extending radially of the cylinder. The rollers 36, 38, 40 and 42 are driven by shafts 52 in turn supported by brackets 45, 47 and 49. The shafts 52 are synchronized with and driven by the sewing machine driving mechanism including a chain 51, which is engaged by a toothed pulley 53 mounted on each shaft 52.

Mounted on the underside of the plate 24 are two fabric guides 54 and 56 which are L-shaped in cross section (looking from the direction of the sewing machine) each including a lower fabric margin receiving leg 55 and a vertical leg 57 connected by and integral with a curved section 59. The guides 54 and 56 are supported by screws 58 which threadedly engage the extremity of the horizontal legs thereof, depending spacing studs 60 and the plate 24. The guides 54 and 56 include a leading end 62 and a trailing end 64 the leading ends 62 being positioned adjacent the respective flanges 46. The studs 60 are triangularly shaped, as viewed from the side, to follow the underside of the leg 55 as it angles upwardly toward the underside of the plate 24. The guides 54 and 56 are angled upwardly to bring the trailing ends 64 up to approximately the level of the plate 24 at the point where the respective notches 32 and 34 begin and just before the space between the respective pairs of pressing rollers, as best seen in FIG. 3. As seen more clearly in FIG. 2 the edge of the guides (formed with the legs 57) angle inwardly, from the leading to the trailing ends of the guides, toward the fabric work-support plate for a purpose set forth below.

Turning now to the operation of the fabric folding arrangement 10 a fabric workpiece 66 is led onto the trailing end of the support plate 24 with its raw exposed edge 67 flush up against an edge guide 68 mounted on one side extremity of the plate 24 and extending from the trailing end of the plate to the beginning of the first notch 28, in the line of fabric feed. When the leading end of the workpiece 66 is led up to the first folding roller 36 the cylindrical section 44 thereof engages the workpiece and pulls it forward to the first pair of pressing rollers 40. As the fabric workpiece 66 engages the folding roller 36 a margin 70 of the workpiece 68 is bent downwardly at approximately right angles to the plate 24 by the flange 46 (see FIG. 4), the inner surface 48 of which holds the margin in that position until the leading edge of the workiece contacts the leading end 62 of the fabric guide 54 which cooperates with the flange to turn the margin further inwardly beneath the fabric support plate 24. The angle of the vertical leg 57 relatively to the direction of fabric travel functions to guide the margin inwardly toward the support plate 24. The angled leg 57 in cooperation with the curved section 59 (FIG. serve to bend the margin inwardly beneath the support plates 24. Reference may be made to FIG. 1 which depicts the margin 70 of the fabric workpiece 68 in the various shapes that the workpiece takes as it progresses along the support plate 24 toward the sewing machine 12. As the margin 70 slides up the inclined lower leg 55 of the fabric guide 54, the margin 70 is folded under the main body of the workpiece until it is brought flush up against the underside of the workpiece just as the leading edge of the workpiece reaches the notch 32 and the first pair of pressing rollers 40. The pair of rollers 40 receive the once folded margin between them and pull the workpiece therethrough to move the workpiece along the plate 24 to the second folding roller 38. The diamond-knurled surface .of the rollers 40 serve to press the margin 70 into the main body of the workpiece so that the margin 70 adheres to the underside of the main body of the workpiece thereby preventing the margin from flopping down as it is moved to the next folding roller 38.

It is noted that other rollers may be substituted for the pressing rollers 40 and 42 so long as hey function similarly. Thus, for example, heated rollers may be utilized which would function to press the margin to the underside of the main body of the workpiece to prevent the margin from flopping down as it is moved to the next roller in the direction of fabric feed.

As the leading end of the fabric workpiece 66 moves on to the folding roller 38 its alignment is assisted by an edge guide 72 secured to the extremity of the right side (looking in the direction of fabric feed) of the plate 24 between the notches 32 and 30. The once folded workpiece is thereafter folded again as it moves beneath the roller 38 and between the rollers 42. Since the folding and pressing operation" of the second set of rollers is the same as that for the first set of rollers discussed above the operation will not be discussed again. As can be seen in FIG. 1 the final product presented to the stitch forming instrumentalities is a three layered hem with its raw edge concealed.

Having thus described this invention, what I claim herein is:

1. Work folding apparatus for use with a sewing machine having a work supporting bed and stitch forming instrumentalities, comprising a substantially horizontal support member'for carrying fabric workpieces, means for moving the fabric workpieces on said support memher, said last named means including at least one rotatable cylindrical roller mounted adjacent said support member, means for folding downwardly below the level of said support member a margin of the workpieces carried on the support member, said last named means including an annular flange carried on said roller in a position laterally adjacent said support member and depending below the level of said support member, a fixed work guiding means positioned adjacent said flange and said support member for receiving the downwardly turned workpiece margin and bending the margin inwardly beneath the workpiece and guiding the folded margin back up toward the level of the fabric workpiece support member, said last named means including a substantially L-shaped structure having a margin receiving end and a margin delivery end, said receiving end being positioned adjacent said flange at substantially the level of the bottom of the flange, said substantially L-shaped structure being angled upwardly to position the delivery end of said structure, at substantially the level of said fabric workpiece support member.

2. Work folding apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein the substantially L-shaped structure of the fixed work guide means includes a vertical leg, a horizontal leg and a curved section connecting said vertical and horizontal legs, and said vertical leg is spaced horizontally from the edge of said support member and angles inwardly toward said support member from the receiving end to the delivery end of the structure.

3. Work folding apparatus as set forth in claim 2 including a pair of parallel cooperating pressing rollers positioned one above the other, the upper pressing roller being positionedabove said support member and the lower pressing roller being positioned below said support member, the delivery end of the L-shaped structure of said fixed work guide means being positioned adjacent said pressing rollers to enable the inwardly folded margin to be moved into engagement with said pressing rollersv 4. Work folding apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said support member includes an elongated flat workpiece supporting plate, said elongated flat plate having a fabric folding edge in which are formed a plurality of notches, a plurality of said flanged rotatable cylindrical rollers arranged with said flanges in alignment with and depending through selected ones of said notches below the workpiece supporting plate, each of said flanges having an inner face perpendicular to said plate and the longitudinal axis of the corresponding cylindrical roller for contacting the workpiece margin, and one of said fixed work guide means arranged to influence said work piece margin beyond each of said plurality of flanged rotatable cylindrical rollers.

5. Work folding apparatus as set forth in claim 4 including a plurality of pairs of said rotatable parallel pressing rollers aligned each pair with certain of said notches in said support member, said delivery end of each of said fixed work guide means being positioned in the pressing roller notch in advance of a pair of said pressing rollers, whereby said folded margin is engaged between said pressing rollers which serve to press the margin to the underside fabric workpiece.

6. Work folding apparatus for use with a sewing machine having a work supporting bed and stitch forming instrumentalities comprising an elongated substantially horizontal workpiece support plate having a fabric folding edge in which is formed sequentially a plurality of at least three spaced notches, means for folding downwardly below the level of said support plate a margin of fabric workpieces carried on said support plate, said last named means including a plurality of rollers positioned adjacent to and parallel with said support plate, each roller being aligned with a respective one, of said notches, the rollers aligned with said first and third notches in said sequence of notches each having formed at one end a flange that depends below the: plate through the respective notch, each of said flanges being perpendiular to said supporting plate and parallel with and spaced from said fabric folding edge, first and second elongated fabric margin guides positioned beneath the level of said support plate, said elongated margin guides being substantially L-shaped in cross section and having a fabric receiving end and a fabric delivery end, each of said fabric receiving ends being positioned adjacent the bottom of a respective one of said flanges, said elongated margin guides being angled upwardly toward said fabric receiving plate, said plurality of rollers including a pair of parallel pressing rollers positioned one above the other and aligned with the second in said sequence of notches, the fabric delivery end of said first elongated margin guide being positioned adjacent the second notch and said pressing rollers whereby as the workpiece moves along the surface of said support plate it is moved into sequential engagement with the respective rollers aligned with each of the notches to first fold the margin inwardly beneath the workpiece and then fold the once folded margin inwardly beneath the workpiece again thereby to conceal the edge of the workpiece engaged by the rollers.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,289,796 7/1942 Meyer 1122 2,313,609 3/ 1943 Wright 270--93 XR 2,349,046 5/1944 Seria 270-93 XR 2,776,636 1/ 1957 Seserman 112-147 FQREIGN PATENTS 224,237 2/ 1925 Great Britain.

H. HAMPTON HUNTER, Primary Examiner US. Cl, X.R. 270-93 

